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Jon Gruden avoids commenting on Amari Cooper trade, instead trolls Stephen A. Smith

Ryan Young
Staff writer
Jon Gruden declined to comment about the Amari Cooper trade on Friday after Cooper claimed Gruden was in the dark about the deal. Instead, Gruden trolled Stephen A. Smith. (AP)
Jon Gruden declined to comment about the Amari Cooper trade on Friday after Cooper claimed Gruden was in the dark about the deal. Instead, Gruden trolled Stephen A. Smith. (AP)

Raiders coach Jon Gruden doesn’t want to dwell on the Amari Cooper trade that sent his best receiver out of Oakland earlier this season.

Cooper said on Thursday that Gruden and then-general manager Reggie McKenzie weren’t involved in the deal at all and didn’t know about it, which isn’t a good look for any NFL front office. Instead, Cooper said it was all owner Mark Davis who made the call to send him to Dallas for a first-round pick.

Gruden was asked about Coopers comments on Friday, though he clearly didn’t want to get into it.

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“I’ve heard some things in the media that are absolutely hilarious, that aren’t even close,” Gruden said Friday, via NBC Sports’ Dalton Johnson. “I’m not commenting on any of that stuff. We gotta get ready for Dan Ross and Boobie Clark. We gotta watch out for Isaac Curtis down the middle. We gotta get Tim Brown and all our receivers ready to play.”

Gruden trolls Stephen A. Smith

Instead of addressing the question head on, Gruden shifted gears and decided to troll ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith — whose apparent lack of NFL knowledge drew headlines on Thursday.

Smith quickly made four major errors while previewing the Los Angeles Chargers and Kansas City Chiefs game on ESPN’s “First Take” on Thursday morning, saying he was excited to watch Hunter Henry, Derrick Johnson and Spencer Ware — all of whom are either injured or have been traded away. He also mistakenly called the Los Angeles Chargers the “San Diego Chargers.”

Ross, Clark and Curtis all played for the Cincinnati Bengals in the 1970s and 1980s, who Gruden and the Raiders will take on this weekend. Brown played wide receiver for the Raiders from 1988-2003.

While he expertly weaved his way out of answering the question on Friday with a bit of humor, it doesn’t help clear up what is looking like yet another questionable move the Raiders have made this season.

Whether Cooper’s claims are true or not, it seems he and the now 8-5 Cowboys have come out of this trade on top. They likely won’t waste any more time focusing on the details of how they got there.

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